In surgical practice occasions arise in which the scalpel is not the instrument of choice for removal of tissue. A particular case is the cataract operation so frequently necessary in the aged. A number of devices have been elaborated, such devices requiring special techniques. The principal difficulty encountered arises from the sides of such devices, it being necessary to introduce the operational portions of the device into the severely restricted portion of the eye which is to be worked on. Moreover, since the device used for removal of the cataract must be manipulated with great precision, any excess weight in the position of the device to be held in the hand of the surgeon can result in damage to the periphery of the working field. Consequently, a device which is effective for removal of tissue and yet which is light enough and small enough to be controllable by the surgeon with great precision is highly to be desired.